This May Be the Year I Disappear [ECD] [PA]

After a full-length for Fueled by Ramen and an EP on Fiddler, Austin's Recover makes the jump to Strummer Recordings for This May Be the Year I Disappear. The album combines the youthful soul-searching of emo with a revivalist punk racket and the post-grunge bands' guitar-oriented punch. Vocalist/guitarist Dan Keyes handles much of the album's heart -- his vocals soar meaningfully on lines like "You're all I taste/You're all I breathe" and "the stars are aligned/Soon you will be mine." But he can also scream with the loudest of his peers if need be. The songs here are consistently melodic, particularly "Simple" and "Disappear." The latter, with its urgent chording combining with the vintage alternative rock rasp in Keyes' voice, is similar to the U.K.'s Idlewild. There are also interesting passages of atmosphere throughout the record, like the dreamy fade-in and outro of "Slower," or the brief acoustic number "Once in Awhile." All of this makes for a strong album, since Recover is as comfortable accessing a Hoobastank sound as it is drawing out raw, restless youth emotion or turning a conventional hard rocker like "Crashed" into a dynamically-shifting, strident post-hardcore anthem. Veteran Recover listeners will recognize "Push Push" and "My Only Cure," which date from the band's 2002 Fiddler EP Ceci N'Est Pas Recover. They appear in re-recorded form here. Another This May Be the Year I Disappear highlight is the bonus track, "Big Choruses," which spells out one of the album's strongest traits. "Big choruses," Keyes sings over an undeniably raucous guitar hook. "So all the kids can sing along." ~ Johnny Loftus